Kurdish problem, PKK, AKP, Hizmet movement

Dr. Ihsan Yilmaz
Dr. Ihsan Yilmaz


Date posted: July 20, 2012

Ihsan YILMAZ  July 4, 2012

The Kurdish problem in Turkey has many domestic and international dimensions. It is, of course, impossible to touch upon all of these in a column. Thus, I will look at only a few of these aspects.

It is obvious that the Justice and Development Party (AKP) wants to solve the problem. But it does not want to pay a political price for this. On the one hand, it sees that without solving this problem Turkey cannot be the elder brother to the Middle East that it so desperately aspires to be. On the other, it has a Turkish nationalist electorate that is considered unprepared for a solution to the Kurdish problem. The AKP has failed to “lead” the nation in this regard, and instead of challenging the public and explaining to the nation why and how this problem must be solved, it has sheepishly obeyed the surveys and backpedaled when it has encountered a negative reaction.

We can see that the AKP is again testing public opinion and its electorate. The AKP is trying to pave the way for new “Oslo talks” with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), with the help of the National Intelligence Organization (MİT), the US, the UK and Massoud Barzani. I do not object to this. On the contrary, I believe that it must be done. But the AKP must be sure that it is not cheated by both the PKK and its domestic and international backers to extend the life of the PKK. I am sure the AKP recognizes how the PKK leaders are playing a good cop/bad cop game. I hope that they do not make the mistake of belittling Abdullah Öcalan’s shrewd intellect and craftiness.

As I said, I do not in principle object to these talks. I am not sure the AKP can fully control the process, but the public must know that the government is having such talks with a view to disarming the PKK and ending its terrorism. The public must also be informed about the general parameters of the talks. A non-transparent process will again be manipulated. I must note that the PKK leaders know very well that a solution to the Kurdish problem will end their own role and the role of the PKK, and that they are trying to buy extra time. Despite this, talks can take place. In return, the PKK must promise the government that it will freeze its terrorist activities, and the government must make clear that it will actively continue to fight against terrorist activities while the talks are taking place.

I have been arguing here that the PKK and the Kurdish problem are two different, but of course intermingled, problems. But it is both necessary and possible to approximately define the limits of the two problems and deal with them separately. The AKP has rightly been arguing that the PKK does not represent all Kurds. So why does it imply that without PKK disarmament it will not give full rights to the Kurds? Elective Kurdish language courses in schools, for instance, are a good start, but in some respects they look like a joke. Kurdish children already know Kurdish; they do not need such elective courses. They are needed for non-Kurds. Why don’t Kurds have the right to be educated in the Kurdish language when there is sufficient demand?

Some so-called liberal writers persistently blame Hizmet for preventing the government from solving the Kurdish problem. But these writers never speak in concrete terms, preferring the abstract, without any credible evidence or convincing arguments. Their attitude casts doubt on their honesty and credibility. It seems there are attempts to put the burden of the AKP’s hesitance and failure to answer the Kurdish question on Hizmet’s shoulders.

Hizmet has also been blamed for operations of the Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK). Yet the AKP has been fully in control of KCK operations. Both the prime minister and interior minister have declared consistently that its operations are justified. If the AKP was not happy with KCK operations it could easily deal with the KCK prosecutors, judges and police officers. Despite this, some liberals and writers who support the AKP continue to blame Hizmet for the KCK operations. It is not easy to comprehend what is going on, but there is obvious psychological warfare in progress against Hizmet.

These liberal writers have been claiming that the state must turn a blind eye to the KCK’s activities as it is part of Kurdish politics. They must explain clearly why the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) is insufficient for such matters. As the prime minister has declared, the KCK is a parallel state organization. Its constitution clearly shows this. Öcalan has said that the KCK is not legal. PKK leader Murat Karayılan is also the head of the KCK. The KCK has illegal courts in the mountains and tries elected politicians in these courts. The KCK also levies taxes on the Kurdish people.

Clearly these writers have a duty to write about this, and openly state that the government must turn a blind eye to these factors. Then the AKP must declare that the KCK should be allowed to perform these actions. After this is done, they can blame the Hizmet movement for being against the KCK.

Source: Today’s Zaman http://www.todayszaman.com/columnist-285525-kurdish-problem-pkk-akp-hizmet.html


Related News

Turkey will conduct ‘operations’ against Erdogan’s enemies in U.S.

“This is a blatant and alarming admission by Turkey’s presidential spokesperson Ibrahim Kalin of actions by the Erdogan regime in clear violation of international law and agreements to which Turkey is a party.”

The Hizmet movement and participatory democracy

The Hizmet movement’s objections make an important contribution to the formation of participatory democracy in Turkey. So far, Turkish democracy was a game among political parties in the absence of a strong civil society and market actors.

Turkish journalist at daily Bugün is threatened

A journalist at the Ankara branch of the daily Bugün has claimed that he received a threatening phone call which he describes as “insulting and discomforting.” The threat follows recent similar claims by Cüneyt Özdemir, a writer at the newspaper Radikal and anchor of the 5N 1K program broadcast by the CNN Türk TV station.

The Turkey I no longer know

The Turkish population already is strongly polarized on the AKP regime. A Turkey under a dictatorial regime, providing haven to violent radicals and pushing its Kurdish citizens into desperation, would be a nightmare for Middle East security. I probably will not live to see Turkey become an exemplary democracy, but I pray that the downward authoritarian drift can be stopped before it is too late.

Victims of Turkey’s purge exploited also by lawyers with exorbitantly high fees

Victims of Turkey’s post-coup purge have been taking another toll from lawyers who ask outrageously high prices either to keep themselves out of trouble or to exploit from the lost causes. In Turkey, the presumption of innocence has been dramatically reversed and now everybody is assumed guilty until they prove their innocence.

Gülen movement’s silent majority

After all, it is not difficult to understand that the reasons pushing so many people so far from home have been a love of service and a love of their own country. During the course of my travels, I also had the chance to meet a few of the teachers dedicated to their service and to teaching in these schools. Most of them had sacrificed some of their own opportunities so that they could simply contribute to the schools at which they are working.

Latest News

Fethullah Gülen’s Condolence Message for South African Human Rights Defender Archbishop Desmond Tutu

Hizmet Movement Declares Core Values with Unified Voice

Ankara systematically tortures supporters of Gülen movement, Kurds, Turkey Tribunal rapporteurs say

Erdogan possessed by Pharaoh, Herod, Hitler spirits?

Devious Use of International Organizations to Persecute Dissidents Abroad: The Erdogan Case

A “Controlled Coup”: Erdogan’s Contribution to the Autocrats’ Playbook

Why is Turkey’s Erdogan persecuting the Gulen movement?

Purge-victim man sent back to prison over Gulen links despite stage 4 cancer diagnosis

University refuses admission to woman jailed over Gülen links

In Case You Missed It

Erdogan’s Turkey: ‘You are either with us or you are terrorists’

Pro-gov’t journalist proposes torturing jailed Gülen followers to force them to talk

Pakistan – Turkish teachers, students not to be deported, court told

Turkish schools bear their fruits in Mongolia too

It’s not about a conflict between the government and Hizmet movement

Obama to become a parallel, too?

Journalists and Writers Foundation-European Union Delegation Roundtable Meeting

Copyright 2023 Hizmet News